A 6-month marketing strategy built around your RTO. Not a template.
The first step for RTOs who know what isn't working but don't yet know what should.
A written strategic document covering SEO, content, LinkedIn, paid search, lead generation, and retention - mapped to your specific training sectors, delivery footprint, and target student profile. The output is the document you hand to your team, your current marketer, or use to decide what to outsource. Most RTOs come to me for this when something has stopped working and they need to know why.
4 weeks
Strategy delivered
From AUD 2,500
Fixed-price project
Yours to keep
Execute anywhere
THE PROBLEM
Why most RTO marketing fails before it starts.
Three patterns I see in nearly every RTO that comes to me for strategy work. Each one quietly burns money for months before anyone notices.
Random tactics, no strategy
Tried Facebook ads, didn't work. Tried SEO, didn't work. Tried a new website, didn't work. Each tactic was sound but the strategy underneath was missing. You've spent $30k+ across 3 channels and can't explain why any of them failed.
Wrong audience targeting
Generic 'people who want training' targeting wastes budget. RTO audiences are specific: job changers, school leavers, upskillers, funded enrolments, employer-sponsored students. Each behaves completely differently. One marketing message can't serve all of them.
No retention strategy
Most RTO marketing focuses on acquisition - new students, new leads, new ads. The bigger opportunity is often retention, referrals, and reactivation of past students. Strategy work catches this. Generic agencies never do because retention doesn't bill monthly retainers.
THE SOLUTION
Strategic work built inside your specific RTO.
A real strategy starts with your RTO. Your scope on training.gov.au. Your delivery model. Your student demographics. Your current numbers. Your competitive landscape. From there, I map a 6-month plan covering the marketing channels that actually fit your audience and budget. SEO if your sector rewards search. Paid ads if speed matters more than compound. LinkedIn if B2B funded enrolments are your model. Content if authority is your gap. The output is a written strategic document you can hand to your team, hand to a current marketer, or use to decide what to outsource. Yours to keep. Yours to execute - with me or anyone else.
WHAT YOU GET
A written strategy you can act on tomorrow.
Market and competitor analysis
Your direct competitors mapped. Their channels, positioning, ad spend signals, content strategy, and weaknesses. Where you can win without trying to outspend them.
Audience and ICP definition
Job changers, school leavers, upskillers, funded enrolments, employer-sponsored students. Each profile mapped to the channel, message, and offer that actually converts them.
Channel strategy
SEO, paid search, LinkedIn, content, partnerships, email, referrals. Which to prioritise based on your audience, budget, and timeline. Which to actively avoid for your specific situation.
6-month action plan
Quarter-by-quarter, month-by-month work. What gets done, who does it, what budget it needs, what dependencies exist. You can hand this to a team member on day one.
KPIs and measurement framework
How you will measure success. What numbers to watch weekly. What to ignore entirely. What benchmarks are realistic for your sector. Built so you can spot trouble before it costs $20k.
Two follow-up calls
Two 30-minute calls in the 60 days after delivery. Q&A as you start implementing. Adjustments when ASQA visits, key staff leave, or a course launch gets delayed. Strategy that ignores reality isn't useful.
THE PROCESS
4 weeks from kickoff to delivered strategy.
Discovery
90-minute deep-dive call. Your scope, courses, current numbers, marketing history, competitors, growth goals, constraints. I leave the call with a clear picture of where your RTO actually sits.
Research
Competitor analysis. Qualification keyword research. Audience and ICP mapping. Channel feasibility check for your specific sectors. Compliance review of current marketing assets.
Strategy
Strategy document drafted. Channel priorities ranked. 6-month action plan built month-by-month. KPI framework defined. Budget allocations recommended across channels.
Delivery
Final written strategy delivered. 90-minute walkthrough call to talk through every section. Two follow-up calls scheduled for the next 60 days. You walk away with a plan you can act on Monday.
WHO IT'S FOR
Most useful at three specific inflection points.
Strategy work is most valuable at three moments in an RTO's life. ONE: When you're launching a new course or pivoting your scope - you need to know if there's real demand and how to capture it before you commit. TWO: When enrolments have been declining for 6+ months and the cause is unclear - the strategy diagnoses what's actually broken. THREE: When you're deciding whether to hire a marketing person, hire an agency, or build it in-house - the strategy gives you the brief to interview against. If you're in one of these spots, the strategy pays for itself in clarity alone. If you're not in one of these spots, I'll tell you on the call.
PRICING
Two strategy tiers. Pick what fits the scope.
Both tiers are fixed-price, paid 50 percent on kickoff and 50 percent on delivery. No retainers. No scope creep. The strategy is yours to keep and execute however you want - with me, with another agency, or in-house.
Focused Strategy
From AUD 2,500
For RTOs with a single sector focus or one specific problem to solve
4-week delivery. Strategy scoped around a single training sector OR a single specific problem (declining enrolments, course launch, channel decision). Full deliverable: competitor analysis, audience mapping, channel strategy, 6-month action plan, KPI framework. Two follow-up calls included.
Full Marketing Strategy
From AUD 5,000
For RTOs with multiple sectors, multiple locations, or growth-stage planning
4-week delivery. Strategy spans multiple training sectors and growth scenarios. Includes deeper competitor analysis, multi-sector channel strategy, prioritised growth pathways, scenario planning (best case, realistic case, conservative case), and detailed budget allocations. Two follow-up calls included.
Execution Pathway
Strategy + service
For RTOs who want me to execute one or more parts of the strategy after delivery
Take any of the above and roll directly into execution with one of my three service lines: RTO Website Design (build the foundation), RTO SEO and Lead Generation (compound traffic), or Google Ads for Australian RTOs (fast enrolments). Strategy fee partially credited against the first 3 months of execution work.
FAQs
Common questions about RTO strategy work.
Is this just a generic marketing plan with my logo on it?
No. Every strategy is built inside your specific RTO. Your courses, your scope, your competitors, your students, your numbers. Generic plans are useless - you can download those for free. The deliverable looks completely different per RTO because the underlying situations are completely different.
Do I have to hire you to execute the strategy?
No. The strategy is yours to use however you want. Implement in-house, hand it to your team, hire another agency, or come back to me for execution. Roughly half my strategy clients execute internally. The other half hire me for one or two service lines (website, SEO, or Google Ads) after delivery. Either way, the strategy is yours.
What if my budget is small?
Smaller budgets actually get more honest strategies. The harder the constraints, the more focused the work has to be. There's no room for vanity channels. If your budget is genuinely too small to justify the strategy work, I'll tell you on the call - and we'll have a free conversation about your situation instead.
Can you implement just one part of the strategy?
Yes. Most strategy clients implement 2 or 3 parts themselves and outsource the rest. SEO, Google Ads, website builds, and content production can all be done with me through my service lines, or with someone else. The strategy maps each piece so you can shop it confidently.
What if my situation changes mid-strategy?
The two follow-up calls are for exactly this. Course launches get delayed. ASQA visits happen. Key staff leave. Funding contracts get renewed or lost. Strategy work that ignores reality is not useful. The follow-up calls are built in so the strategy adjusts as your reality does.
How much does it cost?
From AUD 2,500 for a Focused Strategy (single sector or single problem). From AUD 5,000 for Full Marketing Strategy (multiple sectors or growth-stage). Fixed price, paid 50 percent on kickoff and 50 percent on delivery. No retainers, no scope creep.
How is this different from a free strategy call?
A free 30-minute strategy call gives you a direction. A paid strategy gives you a written plan. The free call tells you 'you should probably invest in SEO and fix your website.' The paid strategy tells you which qualifications to prioritise, which competitors to outflank, which channels to ignore, and a month-by-month plan with budget figures. One is a conversation. The other is a document your team can execute.
More details
Full breakdown.
A real strategy starts with your RTO. Your scope on training.gov.au. Your delivery model. Your student demographics. Your current numbers. Your competitive landscape. From there, I map a 6-month plan covering the marketing channels that actually fit your audience and budget. SEO if your sector rewards search. Paid ads if speed matters more than compound. LinkedIn if B2B funded enrolments are your model. Content if authority is your gap. The output is a written strategic document you can hand to your team, hand to a current marketer, or use to decide what to outsource. Yours to keep. Yours to execute – with me or anyone else.
Get the strategic clarity to act with confidence.
Free 30-minute call to scope the strategy. I'll tell you honestly if you need the paid strategy work, or if a free conversation and the RTO Scorecard will get you what you need. No pressure, no obligation.
Book a Strategy Call →